Theatre
Mrs Orwell
This new, 1940s-set play is about Sonia Brownell, the young editor who was simultaneously courted by Lucian Freud and a dying George Orwell. What’s it like to be overshadowed by a more famous man? Lead actor Cressida Bonas may have some insight.
At the Old Red Lion, EC1, 1-26 August
Festivals
Wilderness
This genteel arts escape in a pretty part of Oxfordshire is probably the only festival where you won’t hear the Corbyn chant. Still, the eclectic lineup leaves room for spontaneity. Or skinny dipping in Lake Majestic. Highlights include banquets with Ottolenghi, Ray BLK and a Grace Jones headdress-making workshop. The great lady herself headlines on the Sunday.
Cornbury Park, nr Chipping Norton, 3-6 August
Liverpool Pride
This relatively new addition to the UK Pride family was founded in 2010 in response to the 2008 murder of gay teenager Michael Causer. Now, Liverpool’s Pride march rivals Manchester and Brighton for size and sizzle. If Saturday headliners Atomic Kitten aren’t to your liking, there’s a major new exhibition of LGBT work at the Walker Gallery until 5 November; and, when darkness falls, Liverpool’s most recognisable buildings, including Anfield Stadium and Merseyside police HQ, will be illuminated in all the colours of the rainbow.
At various venues, Liverpool, 29-30 July
Exhibitions
Picasso: Ceramics
Who knew Dickie Attenborough had such an eye? The actor’s hoard of Picasso’s pottery, amassed during family holidays in France, is on show until November.
At York Art Gallery to 5 November
Film
Hidden People
In Iceland, 54% of people believe humans could coexist with tiny elves, and an additional 36% claim to “take notice” of these hidden folk. Which, if you’re a Björk fan, explains a lot. This sweetly open-minded doc explores the roots of this belief against a backdrop of glaciers and mountainous lava desert. Free to attend from 6pm.
At House of Vans, SE1, 29 July
England Is Mine
Dunkirk’s Jack Lowden has another go at cinematically defining British heroism as the lead role in this long-awaited (or long-resisted?) Morrissey biopic. Mostly set in pre-Smiths, late-70s Manchester, it co-stars Downton’s Jessica Brown Findlay as confidante Linder Sterling. Can they revive interest in Mozza’s legacy in time for October’s The Queen Is Dead reissue?
In cinemas from 4 August
Comedy
Sara Pascoe/John Robins
Only two shows at Edinburgh this year offer insight into one of standup’s most amiable former couples. John Robins’s The Darkness of Robins promises reflections on love and loss, as well as “the injustice that you can’t break up with yourself”. His ex has already moved on, if her show’s title – Sara Pascoe: LadsLadsLads – is anything to go by.
At Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, 3-27 August
Dance
Tutu: Dance in All Its Glory
Rarely does an Edinburgh festival show hold equal appeal for dance aficionados and those who enjoy laughing at men in tutus. Clearly, this humorous new show from Parisian dance company Chicos Mambo has something for everyone. Their last Edinburgh run, 2007’s Méli-Mélo, garnered five-star reviews. In this brand new show, 20 classic pieces from Swan Lake to Pina Bausch are presented as they’ve never been seen before, proving that elegance and slapstick can coexist in a single, technically ingenious performance.
At the Pleasance Grand, Edinburgh, 2-28 August
Talks
Voices at the Table
Talking with your mouth full must be positively encouraged at this literary salon for food lovers. This month’s Borough Market-based edition brings together restaurant critic Grace Dent, rapper and poet Suley Muhidin and architectural jelly-maker Sam Bompas to honour and raise funds for those affected by the recent London Bridge attack.
At Borough Market, SE1, 1 August
Miscellaneous nonsense
The Playground
If you left your sense of shame somewhere in a Hoxton ballpit last summer, there’s nothing to stop you enjoying this “playground experience for adults” as much as any sugar-crazed seven-year-old. Expect swings, slides, seesaws and climbing frames, all adapted to fit the fully grown.
At London Fields West Side, E8, 29-30 July
